The golden hour

I've been working hard at putting together my "home".   While it's been very exciting for me and the hubby, the poor guy I am married to is not going to get much time to enjoy the place as he has so many trips away from home to train soldiers with the Army this year. 

Last year would have probably been better as we were in that budget battle that caused a lot of training to be cancelled -- if we had closed last year, maybe he would have gotten more time to enjoy the place.  As it is, it seems like it's about a week or two home to every 4-5 weeks away for this year.

With all that time away -- it's a double edged sword, really.  On one hand, I can kind of set up places around the house how I want -- on the other hand, he doesn't get to experience the wonder of the new place at the same time. 

Also -- I am kind of doing it all by myself, so my poor shop is suffering and I am not getting nearly as much done as I would like.  Like right now I have some fabulous peach moonstone and some fabulous Swiss blue topaz I just have not been able to touch.  It's sad to me, because they are so pretty that I wish I could just make them into something and post them.

I did however, get a few new items listed -- finally, even though I am still not caught up on creating my work-spaces.  I will show you those later in the post.

I think, however, the thing that is messing up my desire to work in the office / studio here is the golden hour.  It's this time of day that my yard is bathed in this fabulous golden light. I sit back in the back yard during that time every single day, enjoying the fabulous lighting hitting my fruit trees and my gardens.  When raspberries were in season (you know for about a week) it was like heaven in my back yard during that time.

Hubby has been home for almost his two weeks now -- and he can't seem to drag himself away from the back yard golden hour either.  It's like this moment of heaven on earth -- peaceful, serene, and absolutely stunning. There are several photos of the golden hour on my instagram, you'll see what I mean.

This is a Peridot colored Swarovski starfish.  I love it, because finding actual Peridot in this size would not in any way be cost effective -- or probably possible as Peridot cracks easily.  Think August birthdays.

This is a simple rutilated quartz wire wrapped pendant -- except the rutilations are purple.  OOOOH purple!

This was a custom design -- Rainbow Tourmaline Teardrops.  I have only listed these as a custom order -- but may list them for the greater shop later this week.

I bought this strand of Ruby on a whim -- and oh my goodness I am so in love. I wish I could keep the whole strand for myself, but that's not really fair is it. Minimalist Oxidized Ruby Necklace -- July Birthstone

This is a statement pendant -- a gorgeous specimen of Labradorite with all the flash you could imagine.  It was so pricey that I only bought two gemstones and am thinking my mother would love the other one :)

Gloomy Monday -- Bright Orchid

     I admit -- I have my phone set to "do not disturb" each evening because I also have push notifications set for all my sites.  Often, there are sales in the middle of the night, and before I set my phone to "do not disturb" I woke up to loud cha-ching's or "dings" in the middle of the night. 

     It's an odd situation though, not seeing anything until the next morning, so invariably, I feel like I wake up behind -- not that I would be able to honestly ship in the middle of the night.  It doesn't matter, I still feel behind, because I often feel like many of my items are gifts and needed quickly.  

     So I prepare items for shipping at the crack of dawn, as my kids are dressing for school, so that I can mail quickly in the morning (knowing full well that item's won't really move at the post office until specific times are met -- 1:30 pm is the earliest on weekdays, 5:30 pm is the latest).  Still, I like to have items there because in my mind they are still "moving" along their trajectory to their final, happy destination. 

2014 year of Radiant Orchid by CoolAndChic

It's also started raining again.  Here in Seattle, it's not unexpected -- but this late in the year a bit of an annoyance because by now we are all sort of ready for the fabulous summer the Pacific Northwest usually provides.  We got a glimpse of it last week:  72-80 degrees and fabulously sunny.  It was pretty much a green heaven for two-days.  Then, the 20% chance of rain struck, meaning pretty much 100% in the end.
Hence the gloom -- but after my "do not disturb" ended this morning, I woke up to the wonderful, bright, beautiful sunshiny treasury above.  Pretty much made me want to blast "shiny happy people" this morning. But, alas, my husband was home -- not having physical training because of duty yesterday -- and certainly needing a bit of 'vege' time prior to "spring cleaning" happening around his office this week.

Here's to bright sunshiny weather that will eventually head our way -- at least that's what the national weather service tells us.  Please be correct, NWS -- it often seems as though you just sort of throw darts to explain weather phenomena here in the Pacific Northwest.

~Maggie~

Waiting for Spring

I am sitting in my room / studio, my legs propped up, my back aching, and the guys outside my window cleaning the heavily clogged gutters.  It's a fine way to start a Monday, along with running out of coffee creamer on Friday from my husbands obsession with coffee at all hours of the night.  I also went to the store numerous times this weekend forgetting creamer each and every time.

So, I suppose this is the universe telling me it's time to cut back on my creamer / coffee concoctions each morning?  Maybe.  But, I'll likely not listen.

I've been trying to figure out where the tension in my back / neck is coming from of late.  Sure, I have old Army injuries that often flare up during Seattle's cold and rainy winters -- but this feels differently. Normally, I could go get a massage and feel like a million bucks after the guys in the Mall do everything short of ripping off both my arms and beating the rest of my back with them.

That just didn't help this weekend.

I could be irritated with hubby going away for a few days -- across the mountains, through heavy snow and blizzard conditions to train soldiers yet again.   I could be stressed because therapy is particularly difficult this month.  It could be a fear of writing a true story in three different "tones" like I am required for my Veteran's Writing Class -- hosted by my local Vet Center and put together by the wonderful folks at the "Red Badge Project"  (Seriously, check this organization out).

But more likely than not -- it's the stress of waiting for my VA claim to be complete.  It's a long and tedious process, and you never really know how it's going.  You can call the 1800 number, getting "Peggy" but really you never really get any information.  You can check your status online -- but again, you just leave the website more confused than before.

So, I listen to the rain, in its abundance here south of Seattle.  I try to enjoy it.  I contemplate making an appointment to see about my back and that one weak knee that just wont get better.

And -- I am grateful that I thought ahead a couple of years ago and created a portable box -- so that my studio could go anywhere with me.  So, even though I sit here, uncomfortable, waiting for tylenol to work -- I can still create, and calm my weary nerves.

Vesuvianite Earrings in 14k Gold Filled

Peridot Earrings in Sterling Silver

London Blue Topaz in Sterling Silver Necklace

Crystal Quartz Earrings in Sterling Silver -- April Birthstone

Radiant Orchid Pearl Earrings

Playing for Keeps...

Little known fact -- my shop was actually non-productive yesterday.  Not because customers didn't come browse, and not because I "couldn't" make anything new for the shop.  Not because of anything "normal" that would cause a shop to be actually offline -- in fact the shop itself was online, I was just flapping in the wind struggling.

So, here's the thing -- my kids are tech-savvy little ones, often addicted to the plethora of electronics available today.   On weekends, I often scramble around the house and the shop, cleaning, organizing, cooking, and this last weekend was no different.  However, my youngest -- the super bright special needs one -- was playing with my laptop when he could, and when he couldn't he was playing with the desktop.

So, I log on on Monday and realize, quite quickly in fact, that in this adventure I call my etsy shop -- I am not only the owner, designer, marketing department, photographer, production department, etc., etc., etc.,  but now I am the IT department also, because my son has a thing for downloading things that should not be downloaded.

Nice.

So, I was lucky in that the shop was rather slow yesterday, I just had to mail a few items from the weekend and finish designing one custom order.  My day was spent cleaning up the hard drives on two machines -- which are now working fabulously -- with two different versions of windows, while planning dinner, and the season ahead.

But -- that was not without moments of  "I will never let this kid play with the computers again,"  and "where did my ruler go to measure this item," to finally "wow, I actually do have to use algebra in calculating how much wire to cut for custom sized hoops, who knew?"

By the way to figure out how much wire to cut for hoops, you either use Pi times the number of inches you want the for circumference, or ask my oldest to calculate it -- which is often what I do.  I really thought getting a degree in Communications would insulate me from Pi -- but not so much.  The oldest, or my human calculator as I call him (did I tell you he took the PSAT's WITHOUT a calculator?) is quite hysterical when I have to ask him for mathematics help in the shop.

But all in all -- with the downtime provided recently, I have been playing with dainty again -- and later today I will put up some mixed metal earrings that are just adorable, so watch out for those.   Until then -- here are a few cute things I am playing with while I get ready for the show next weekend.

I just love this little dainty style.  And in Emerald Green?  Who could hope for a better stocking stuffer?  At 28 bucks a pair for handmade sterling silver and gemstone earrings -- these are a bargain.  Oh -- and free domestic shipping to boot.

Okay, so these technically are not new -- but the photos are :)  Just look at how much fun I had playing with the depth of field on these gorgeous Pink Garnet Hoops.  Oooh, sparkly.

These are kind of a new design -- really they are a total mix.  Playing off of the dainty trio earrings, and the half moon / leaf ear wire, I wrapped a pink garnet that has a caramel undertone onto a sterling silver handmade "leaf" ear wire - then dangled and dangled some more.  These almost didn't make it to the shop thanks to my teenage daughter.

Now -- back to reality and working out a few more things in the shop, kitchen and on the laptop :)

~Maggie~

Two Weeks... Just Two Weeks

Am I the only one going just a little crazy getting ready for back to school?  Sometimes it feels like that.

From the sports physicals to shots, to finding the best back to school supply deals, to figuring out when the heck my high-schooler gets on the bus, I am like WHOA!  Stop the world, I want off!

But seriously, it's pretty hairy.  And the bummer is, normally at this time of year there is a late August jewelry show up here in Tacoma or Seattle -- sometimes both.  But this year, it's neither, so I can't even spend a day forgetting about it all.  Of course I would use the excuse with the family:  But, I need to do this for the shop.  Seriously, they buy it every-single-time.

But this year I must wait until November.  So I catch myself often looking longingly at bead shops on Etsy.  Wow -- beautiful small quantities on there.  It's like Christmas whenever I find myself looking. I am just in awe of the perfectly faceted gemstones, and the wire.  There is this one shop in New Orleans that makes fabulous wire -- my mother got me some Rose Gold wire from there, so I have been having a little fun.

You did hear Rose Gold is super big this year? Like amazingly big.  Like, how do I get noticed for having it in my shop big.

These are Emerald Green Onyx (Color of the Year) finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.

Stunning Mozambique Garnet with a pinkish hue finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.  My mother adores these.

So you know those "Alina Jolie" Earrings?  The Emerald ones no one can get enough of? These are fashioned after those -- The are  perfect Emerald Quartz finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.  Oh Wow -- two birds, one stone.

And don't forget there are only a few days left of the wonderful Birthstone "Peridot" -- it's a lovely green, and there are many items in the shop.

Up next month is the amazingly versatile Sapphire.  Ohh La La.

But for now -- it's time to start pulling my hair out again on the couponing blogs to find the best back to school deals.  You know that's right.  I've heard it both ways.

Yeah, I love Psych.  By the Way -- anyone watching "The White Queen?"  Lovely Jewelry ideas.  It's on Starz -- but the books are better.

~Maggie~